Classes, Rugby, Parties and Good Food...

Wow how time flies… It has been a while since I had time to confide in my laptop’s keypad and tell it how things are going… Time is proving to be a more and more valuable commodity with every passing day. Everything happens here at an extremely accelerated pace… From 90 minute lectures that just pass like a breeze, to 6-hour private parties that seem to fly by in minutes. Enough rambling about Father Time…

A great first week introduced us to some great clubs on campus. The INSEAD Capital Partners Club, the Renaissance Club, the VIP party club, Valmont and so on. There seems to be something for everyone at INSEAD, and joining those clubs early on is advisable for academic, social, and career prospect reasons in the future.

After the Business Foundations Program, and 2 short modules on Business Presentations and an Introduction to General Management, the MBA courses have started, and it’s full steam ahead.

Uncertainty, Data and Judgment: This is basically a euphemism for the much-feared term Statistics. However, I must say that Professor Neil Bearden is great at making the class interesting, and far from the number crunching madness… We are still discussing Normal Distributions, Z-Curves, Chebichev’s Rule and so on, but I am quite sure statistics will never be the same again…

Financial Accounting: Professor David Young, a very intense character who relies on cold-calling on students in class has achieved the miraculous feat of deciphering the double entry system of accounting to the uninitiated. We are still doing the simple Balance Sheet and Income Statement parts, and are yet to delve into the more complicated elements, but judging by his book, I have a feeling this course is going to be interesting, and I might even follow it up with the Corporate Financial Policy elective in P3.

Prices and Markets: This is one of the tougher ones, especially when doing the required pre-readings before class. As interesting as the subject of microeconomics is, there is something annoying about indifference curves, cost curves, and non-linear supply and demand functions for substitutes and complementary goods (and that was my practice for Wednesdays Quiz… yes, a Pop Quiz…)

Business Ethics: I will not elaborate here, as I need to get a better feel for the class next time, because I did not particularly enjoy the first lesson. Legal or illegal, ethical or unethical, the distinction between them, and the tolerances of different people (and cultures) for them can be a very interesting subject to learn, and we’ll see how it goes.

Leading people and Groups: Everyone says this is a fluffy course, and it is boring… I beg to differ, cuz I just might be a sucker for Organizational Behaviour (OB). Although the readings are cumbersome at times, when the situations presented are projected on personal experiences, the course offers great opportunities to learn. I hope the ‘haters’ give it a chance.

Financial Markets and Valuation: Again I say Finance has always been a necessary evil for me.I try to like it, but fail to, repeatedly. That said, the clear difference this time is that I am comfortable with the concepts covered so far, and understand them properly… I just do not enjoy it.

On the party-front, Villa Vivante, Flaming Buddha, Valmont, and Le Shaker took good care of us over the past couple of weeks. A couple of nice cozy dinners took place too, and the highlights were fondue at the Savoyard, crepe and coq au vinin at Barbizon, and a sumptuous pot au feu at Cote Sud. Thankfully, I am playing Rugby, so the food is being put to good use... It is actually the first time I play rugby, and a couple of trainings into it, I found out it is a game I would have always wanted to play. The IFRC (INSEAD Rugby Club) has another training this evening, and I can't wait to go! I'll post some pix soon...

PS. I passed my DELF French exam, and thus my 3d language requirement is satisfied.

Behhh, oui, pffff, voila…
MooN